The US General Administration of Archives and Records said in a letter to Congress on Friday that former President Donald Trump passed classified information to his Florida home after leaving the White House.
The Archives confirmed that it had informed the Department of Justice - which will handle any investigation - about 15 boxes of documents that the administration recently recovered from Trump.
Director of the National Archives Administration David Ferrero said - in a letter to Democratic Representative Caroline Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee - that the US General Administration of Archives and Records identified materials that are "confidential national security information" inside the boxes.
Maloney's commission is looking into the Republican president's handling of official records, after he left office in January 2021.
"These new discoveries deepen my concern about Trump's blatant disregard for federal records laws and the potential impact on our historical record," Maloney said in a statement.
routine process
On the other hand, Trump said - in a written statement - that the public archives did not find anything, and that these boxes containing presidential records were given to the Archives Department when requested, in a normal and routine process to ensure "preservation of my heritage, and in accordance with the Presidential Records Act." .
He added that if this was anyone other than (Trump), there would be no story.
The Washington Post reported last week that some of the documents transferred to Trump's home have been classified as classified, which could increase legal pressure that Trump or his aides may face.
The Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communications relating to the president's official duties.
Trump filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to block the release of records from the White House, including to the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
And two days ago, the White House said that US President Joe Biden had asked the National Archives Administration to send records of White House visitors to the House Committee charged with investigating the events of the storming of Congress, thus rejecting the nature of the "executive privilege" (right of withholding) granted by his predecessor Donald Trump to these documents. .
Visitor records "show appointments given to people checked into the White House complex, including the day of the congressional storming," according to a letter from White House Counsellor Dana Remus to Director of the National Archives Administration David Ferrero.
The New York Times reported that Biden had ordered the National Archives to grant congressional investigators access to the White House visitor records;
Given the urgency of their work investigating the siege of Trump supporters - who reject the results of the 2020 presidential election - the Capitol building, he ordered the records to be turned over within 15 days.